Means for excavating dirt



(No Model.) I i 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. A. CARSON.

MEANS POR EXGAVATING DIRT, 6m. No. 268,181. Patented Nov. 28, 1882.

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(No Model.) 4 ZSheets-Sheet 2.

H. A. CARSON.

MEANS FOR BXGAVATING DIRT, &o.

N0.Z68,181. Patented Nov. 28, 1882.

"Fiji e UNITED lSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

`HOWVARD A. CARSON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETS MEANS FOR EXCAVATING DlRT,

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 268,181, dated November28, 1882.

Application filed April 10, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern l Be it known that I, HOWARD ADAMS OAR- sON,of Boston, in the county ot' Suitblk, of the State oi' Massachusetts,have invented a new and useful improvement in means or mechanism forexcavating earth and transporting to and depositing it at a distancefrom the place of excavation; and I do hereby declare the same to bedescribed in the following specilication and represented in theaccompanying' drawings, of which- Figure l is an isometrical perspectiveview ot' an apparatus ern bracing my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar Viewof one of its scoops. Fig. 3 is a side elevation, and Fig. 4 an edgeView, of the scoop-transportin g mechanism, to be described.

The object of my invention is to dispense in a large degree with manuallabor, as usually employed in various other earth hoisting and carryingdevices heretofore used and provided with tabs to receive and dump theearth, as, in the place ot' tubs to be iilled with the excavated earthby men with shovels, I employ two or more excavating-scoops of peculiarcon- `struction, and with such means of supporting them and moving themalternately from the place of excavation to that of deposit of theearth. These scoops are shown in Fig. l at H and I, each consisting ol'a box, a, open in front and at top, as shown in Fig. 2, and provided onthe front edge of its bottom with a suitable number of teeth, b, formedas shown, and inclined downward somewhat relatively to said bottoni.Besides a main bail, d, arranged with it as represented, it has anauxiliary bail, c, and a supporting-hook, c, therefor, such hook, at theupper part of its shank, being properly hinged to the main bail. Thelower part of the hook is bent to an acute angle with the shank, suchacute angle approximating closely toa right angle. Besides theabove-mentioned appliances, there is to the scoop a drag-bail, j', toextend from itin manner as shown in Fig. 2. To thislatter bail power isto be applied in any suitable manner, to draw forward the scoop to causeit to enter and scoop up the earth. Each scoop has its main bail hitchedupon a hook, g, depending froma pulley, h. (See Figs. Band 4.) rlhispulley is hinged to an eyebolt, t', provided `with a heavy washer, k,arranged on it in manner as shown, such washer being to prevent theblock from being raised toohigh. The bolt i extends downward from aconic frustum, show n in dotted lines in Fig. 3, at l, as restingon twomovable jaws, mm, arranged in a traveler, A, in manner as represented,and having studsm projectiugfroni them into slots n formed in a iiatlever, B, fulcrumed to the traveler at O, and resting when horizontalupon aprojectiomp, extending' from the trav eler. to enable a person toturn it on'its fulcrum in a manner to simultaneously force upward thesaid movable jaws iu order to allow the scoop to descend. 'Ihe frustum lis attached to a rope, r, led through the pulley and about two groovedwheels, s s, arranged iu the traveler in manner as represented. rIhesaid traveler, constructed as shown, is suspended from a carriage orbicycle, O, adapted to run upon a sustaining-rope, D, the traveler beingcon-- nected to such carriage so as to be capable ot' swinging laterallybelow it in a manner to maintain its verticality while thecarriage isbeing moved along its supporting-rope D.

The travelers Aof the two scoops are shown in Figure l as connected bywhat I term a "tail-rope, E, which goes through leadingpulleys t t atthe upper part of a supporting standard or frame, F, the rope at one oreach of its ends being fastened to and wound upon a drum, u. One or eachtraveler hassuch a drum, u, journaled to and arranged with it, as shownin Figs. 3 and 4. The heads fu( of the drum,formed with stop-shouldersfu, serve with a slide, w, arranged in the traveler to retain the drumfrom revolving under the strain of the rope after such rope may havebeen wound on the drum. The slide w is a block of wood or piece of metaladapted to the traveler A, so as to be capable of being slid or movedtoward and away from the heads u a of the drum u, such being in orderthat when the slide may be against the said heads and their two oppositestop-shoulders may be resting on the slide, they, with the slide, shallprevent the drum from revolving under the strain of its rope.

The sustaining-ropes D D of thetwo carriages or bicycles extend betweenand are supported by two wooden frames,F Gr, constructed and arranged asshown in Fig.1,and suitably A rope, q, fastened to the lever serves.

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ballasted, as at w w', each of the said ropes i being fastened to one oftwo crabs, w, sustained by the frame G. Each crab consists of one axleor barrel, with means of revolving it to wind the rope upon it, thebarrel also being provided with a ratchet-wheel and pawl to hold it fromrevolving backward after the rope may have been wound sufciently on it.The frames F Gr are provided'with runners y to rest on rollers z, thatin turn rest on planks a', arranged as shown, suchbeing to enable'theframes to be moved laterally as occasion may require. The tendency ofthe two frames to be drawn toward each other may be counteracted bycblique struts b', extending from them into the ground and againststones or timbers thereon.

Within theframeG, I usually arrange the motor for effecting thereciprocation of the scooptravelers. This motor is shown at I, which maybe a steam-engine applied to an upright boiler. In front of the motorare two drums, K L, to which are fastened the two ropes r of the twotravelers. The drums' are to be suitably connecteii with thesteam-engine to enable them to be revolved, as occasion may require, tocause either rope lr to be wound upon its drum and the other rope to besimultaneously and in like manner unwound from its drum, or to be keptfrom unwinding.

From the above it will be seen that by means of the ropes o and thetail-rope connecting the two travelers they maybe caused tosimultaneously move in opposite directions along and vbelow thesupporting-rope of their carriages or' bicycles, and either of thescoops may be lowered to a position for excavating and the other beraised to a position for discharging earth, the excavating of the earthbeing caused by drawingtthe scoop laterally by its dragbail so as tocause it to enter and scoop up the earth until it may be sufficientlyladen therewith. On each scoop being carried over the place upon whichits load is to be discharged, an attendant should strike upon the hookconnecting the main and auxiliary bails with force sufficient todisconnect the book from the auxiliary bail, which having taken place,the scoop will by the weight of its load be turned downward so as todischarge or dump such load. p

I would remark that in several respects the earth excavating andtransporting mechanism herein described is analogous to the apparatusheretofore patented by me for hoisting and moving earth in trenches; butit differs therefrom in several important particulars, as my presentapparatus is an earth excavator and transferrer, which the patented onewas not, and, besides, has movable and ballasted frames andsustaining-ropes for the scoops and their travelers, and such travelersare supported from separate carriages or bicycles, so as to maintaintheir vertical positions under any curvature or sag of thesustainingropes withont tipping the carriage so as to cause them to bindwith injurious friction on the ropes.

It is to be further remarked that the saine lengine which hoists,lowers. and moves horizontally the scoops heretofore described may also,though not necessarily, furnish power for dragging and filling thescoops. In this case a third winding-drum, oraso-called gypsyhead,77(not shown,) may conveniently be employed.

With the rope and bicycle thereon and the traveler connected Ywith thebicycle Yas described, the traveler can be moved under and laterally ofthe rope, and also in the plane of the rope, which cannot be done whenthe traveler is of itself a carriage supported on a rigid rail or track.

Having thus described my improved earth excavating, transporting, anddischarging apparatus, which in practice has been found to be highlyadvantageous and economicahwliat I claim as of my invention is asfollows, viz:

l. The open-box scoop having the inclined teeth b, and provided with thethree bails,fc, and d and the hook e, arranged and adapted substantiallyas set forth.

2. The traveler A, provided with the block h, rope r, wheels s s, drumu, and rope E, and suspended from the bicycle between itswheels,andjointed to it so as to be capable of being swung laterally under thebicycle and in the plane thereof.

3. The combination ofthe rope D, the bicycle C, and the traveler A,provided with the block h, rope fr, wheels s s, drum u, and rope E, andjointed to the bicycle and arranged IOO with it and the rope,substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the pawl or slides w and the tail-rope drum u,having one or each of its headsprovided with stop-shoulders c, asdescribed, with the scooptravelers, and also with the tail-rope adaptedto such drum, as set forth.

5. The combination of the movable and ballasted frames F G, asdescribed, and their traveler-bicycle supporting-ropes D, extending fromone to the other of such frames, with the two travelers A, theirbicycles U, scoops H and I, tail-rope E, and scoop lowering and raisingropes r, all being arranged and applied essentially in manner and tooperate as set forth.

HOWARD ADAMS CARSON.

Witnesses:

It. H. EDDY, E. B. PRATT.

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